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Saturday

Aug 27, 2011 at 12:01 AM

"Over the years, an army of statues has been deployed in the parks, circles and squares of the nation's capital, many of them commemorating men who played a role in what should have been the liberation of the African people in America. But the fervent hope that accompanied the end of slavery in this country was betrayed over subsequent decades. The newest monument honors the man who rekindled that hope with his insistence, a century after the Civil War, on freedom, equality and nonviolent change. ... There is now a national holiday honoring Martin Luther King, but this new memorial by the Tidal Basin will have meaning beyond a Monday off in January. It will be a place for pilgrimages by many (not only Americans but also visitors from throughout the world), a site for reflection and contemplation, and a source of pride for those whom Dr. King helped along on a road that still has some distance to be traveled."

- "A memorial to Martin Luther King Jr." - The Washington Post

"Back in 2000, after numerous documented abuses, Congress reformed the nation's asset forfeiture laws in an effort to better protect the innocent. A decade later, it appears time to revisit the issue. For those unfamiliar with civil forfeiture, it is a powerful law enforcement tool that allows the government to seize an individual's assets - cash, property, virtually anything - even if the owner of the items confiscated is never convicted or even charged with a crime. ... The concept of civil forfeiture - that the government can permanently seize the property of a person who has never been charged with any crime - seems more at home in a tyrannical dictatorship than in a state founded on freedom, liberty and justice. If forfeiture cases have almost doubled in the past decade, it's time for Congress to again scrutinize this tactic."